EVENTS ART BASEL MIAMI 2017 By Nancy Nesvet At Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, artists will lean, if not jump head first, into the narcissistic pool. You cannot blame them, with environmental disasters worldwide fighting for our attention, and calls for sympathy overwhelming. With hurricanes in Texas, Florida, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, earthquakesin Mexico — all places with a high Latino demographic, like that of the exhibitors and visitors at Art Basel Miami — we are inundated with calls to act and give. But artists must first contemplate the problem, examine their intention and compose their action before making their response. Artists are making work that analyzes their surroundings, mining their psyches and exploring the relationship of self to community. I’m not talking theory here, but suggest that artists are using methods uniquely theirs to self-analyze … [Read more...] about Examining Self and Community: Connecting at Art Basel Miami 2017
Current Issue
One Great Performance Piece: Christensen at Sea
TYPE 30 DAYS AT SEA: NEW WORKS BY TIM CHRISTENSEN CENTER FOR MAINE CRAFT 24 SERVICE PLAZA DRIVE WEST GARDINER, MAINE By Taryn Plumb For 30 days, he was essentially a stow- away on a container ship set on a course thousands of miles across the open sea. The moody ocean vacillated between violence and tranquility; the scenery was at times turbulent, blissful, and teeming with life — but whatever each day brought, the experience was endlessly powerful and life-altering. Maine sgraffito artist Tim Christensen, bound for Sydney, Australia, spent hours above deck studying the changing pat- terns of the water, the sky and the wildlife, then rendering his observations in dozens of sketches and notes, filling a journal to the bindings. His trip is chronicled in the solo exhibit “30 Days at Sea,” now on view at the Center for Maine Craft Gallery in Gardiner. … [Read more...] about One Great Performance Piece: Christensen at Sea
Olson is in Pink: Hot is Cool at Kingston
TYPE ROSE OLSON: BRIGHT, COOL AND HOT KINGSTON GALLERY 450 HARRISON AVENUE #43 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS NOVEMBER 29 THROUGH DECEMBER 30 By Brian Goslow Just as thousands of artists have used the unique light of Provincetown as their inspiration and muse, so have painters on Massachusetts’ North Shore. Abstract painter Rose Olson, whose collection of “Bright, Cool and Hot” paintings will be featured in Kingston Gallery’s final show of 2017, channels the skies above the water at West Beach in Beverly, Mass. “Living on the sea, the colors you see changing in the morning and night are so extraordi- nary,” Olson said. “It takes your breath away and probably has as much to do with my painting as anything. I used to watch the sun rise on the beach, then go home and try to paint those col- ors. You can’t help but try to replicate that.” Early in her career, Olson … [Read more...] about Olson is in Pink: Hot is Cool at Kingston
When the Spirit Moves: Energy Builds at Marquee in New London
TYPE WIND SPIRIT SPEAKS: NINA CHUNG AND PAT SCHOENFELDER MARQUEE GALLERY 74 STATE STREET NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT NOVEMBER 17 THROUGH DECEMBER 16 By Tom Soboleski The old maritime port of New London has been transforming over the past decade to embrace the creative talent it is blessed with. With more than a dozen galleries and studios, the energy is building — from community art to various professional niches. One of those, Marquee Gallery, has already hosted more than 40 international artists, as well as numerous regional and local artists, in its brief three-year existence. Marquee’s director, Clint Slowik, said he looks for emerging and mid- career artists who “have the talent but they also have the sincerity and the passion of an artist who I can see developing, who really dives into what their artistic vision is.” That mission will be manifested on … [Read more...] about When the Spirit Moves: Energy Builds at Marquee in New London
Cities Embrace Street Art: Murals Go Mainstream
BUSINESS UNDERGROUND AT INK BLOCK 90 TRAVELER STREET BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS By Brian Goslow At what point did street art go from being seen by most as an unfavorable blight on a neighborhood to being considered a highly desirable commodity? In 2009, Shepard Fairey was arrested for illegal tagging in Boston and thus missed DJing a sold-out party at his highly-promoted ICA show; in the first part of the 2010s, some Worcester city councilors, upset about an onslaught of destructive tagging throughout the city and unable to separate art from vandalism, called for the fining of business owners who commissioned local artists to paint murals on their walls. Now, Boston’s City Hall Plaza hosts Art Hub Boston and invites artists to paint shipping trailers brought specifically to the site for the event and, as part of the international Pow! Wow! Worcester mural … [Read more...] about Cities Embrace Street Art: Murals Go Mainstream
A Fine Art Print Primer: Fraone’s Tips For Collectors
BUSINESS COLLECTING FINE ART PRINTS By Gina Fraone Fine art prints occupy a somewhat odd place in the art market. Because a print is usually something that can be created in multiples, that can lead some folks to conclude that prints are not to be taken as seriously as other artworks, like paintings and drawings. But to the aficionado, fine art prints are held to the same aesthetic criteria as any other art object. Is the technique used to create the object well executed? Is the composition fresh, inventive or timeless? Is the subject of the picture engaging? Besides there being more than one of the same print, collectors some- times get hung up the idea that the artist may have played only a part in the creation of the print. It bothers some that technicians may have been involved in carrying out the actual printing process. (Of course, some artists handle … [Read more...] about A Fine Art Print Primer: Fraone’s Tips For Collectors